Surgeons routinely implant biomedical implants, including but not limited to intramedullary nails or hip stems, into patients. For example, a patient might have fractured his or her leg after falling. Another patient might have conditions typically associated with old age, for example, a weakened hip. A surgeon might decide that the patient's condition requires treatment with one or more biomedical implants. There are companies that manufacture and sell biomedical implants in standard sizes and designs. Sometimes, these standard implants are appropriate for the patient's condition. The surgeon could simply purchase the standard implant to treat the patient's condition. But oftentimes, these standard biomedical implants are not appropriate for treatment of the patient's condition. For example, if a patient has a fractured leg, the fracture might be larger, wider, or otherwise differently shaped than is appropriate for a standard biomedical implant. The standard biomedical implant might not fit into the fracture, might not make contact at the required points, or might otherwise inhibit the treatment of the patient's condition.
When a standard biomedical implant is not appropriate for treatment, the surgeon can order a customized biomedical implant. Customized implants provide the flexibility of selecting an implant with the appropriate design to treat the patient's condition. Traditionally, biomedical implant manufacturers collaborate with a surgeon to design a customized implant. In this traditional method, all communication between the requesting surgeon and the biomedical implant manufacturer is either oral or written and delivered through the postal service. If the communication is oral, then the surgeon must schedule an appointment with the implant manufacturer, either by telephone or in person. Accordingly, communication can only occur when the manufacturer and surgeon are available at the same time. Waiting on concurrent availability takes a long time, and the delay might affect the patient's condition. Collaboration in these traditional methods of design also occurs in writing and is delivered through the postal service. For example, a surgeon might send X-rays and order forms through the mail, and the implant manufacturer will mail the design proposals back to the surgeon. Sending communication through the mail is time consuming, and the delay might affect the patient's condition. Accordingly, traditional systems and methods that depend on oral communication, or written communication delivered by the postal service, is undesirable.